Kids for Wigs

Many kids helped to donate to the Kids for Wigs fundraiser.

I was looking at all these happy kids wearing their hats to school.  What a great idea to get kids to be involved in helping others, and having fun at the same time.

I’m sure that some of these kids were just happy to be able to wear a hat all day at school, but most of these kids knew that they were contributing to make more wigs for kids.

Then I spotted my favorite picture.

 

We looked all over for a picture of GaryTodd, but then when we were looking, we didn’t see any of the Kindergarteners on the bulletin board.

I don’t know who takes all the pictures, but it seems as if this bulletin board is a way for the school to show the kids how proud they are of them. 

I don’t know, maybe they always have pictures of the kids on here for all us parents that like to find pictures of our children.

I Knew We’d Have Fun!

For the last several months, our water heater has been having a difficult time getting water warm.  But the last couple of months have been getting frustrating.  So today I went to buy a new water heater.  We also had to buy a new stove, because our stovetop cracked.  So now that we can’t heat water on the stove, it has become more of an emergency.

Seanelle and GaryTodd get along very well, and taking them to the store has never been a problem.  Today was a little comical.  Most parents that threaten to separate the kids are at their wits end because of the fighting.  Today, I couldn’t get my children to be quiet enough to not disturb other people because they were laughing and playing together a little loudly.

Here is one of the pictures they asked me to take.  They were hugging each other and trying to pick each other up.  I don’t know why this was so fun for them, but they were laughing as if they just made up the best game in the world.

I discovered that taking their pictures did quiet them down, but only momentarily.  I gave up.  I had a difficult time trying to get them to stay still.

Yes, I realize that Seanelle is wearing a very strange combination of clothing.  But it was unseasonably warm today (54° F), and the sun was shining and so I really didn’t care.  Besides, I will be able to use this picture in the years to come when she tells me that my clothing is completely out of style!

(Experience makes us smarter.)

Tomorrow my appliances will be delivered, and I doubt you have to wonder whether or not I will be writing another blog post.  I will be taking a shower as soon as the tank is ready.  But as for posting anything tomorrow, you are safe.  I might take a couple of showers tomorrow, and maybe even a bath!  I hope there are no problems…

“Friday Nights…” slight retraction…

While I was bragging about how well our bowling team did this season so far, I apparently got a little over zealous and stated that Todd had been bowling with us for 8 years. 

He wanted me to make sure that I made it very clear that he has only been bowling with us for 7 years.  He has assured me that by his 8th year of bowling, his average will be much higher than the one I posted online in this article.

Busy, Busy, Busy…

GaryTodd is thoroughly enjoying being back at school.  Both Seanelle and GaryTodd were excited to be able to get back to school.

GaryTodd came home from school and started writing out sentences.  He was working on the white board while I was fixing his lunch.  He had me turn around to see his latest creation.

He loves it when I get excited enough to take his picture… but he wishes I would be faster.

Seanelle likes to write messages to people to let them know how much she loves them.  She also likes to practice writing new words, as well as making up a few of her own.  She is a great role model for her little brother.  When he spotted her writing a note, he decided it was a pretty good idea.

He loves when it is getting closer to bedtime.  It is the one time of day that he will settle down and sit with his dad.  Here, he is reading a story that he helped to create at school.  He read it to dad several times.  The amazing thing was that dad was surprised every time!

When the neighbor came over to play, he brought his Santa suit.  They had a great time playing with Santa.  (I told him he was mistaken if he thought he would be able to get me to bake any cookies for him.)

Friday was “Hat Day” at school.  All the kids that brought a 50¢ donation and could wear their hats all day at school.  The donation went to a local boutique that makes wigs and donates them to children with cancer.

The kids were happy to show off the hats they had just received from Santa, and felt good about helping sick kids at the same time.

This Monday we will be recognizing Martin Luther King, Jr., and Tuesday the kids will stay home too.  I don’t know why the school thinks that the kids need another 4 day weekend after barely returning back from Winter break.   But I have no doubt we will have fun!

Friday Nights… Bowling Nights

Todd is still recovering from pneumonia, and didn’t have the strength to bowl with our team last night.  He is getting better every day, but it will be a little while before he is back to feeling 100%.  (He does plan to bowl with us next Friday.)

Our bowling league plays a split season.  We divide the entire season into 2 halves.  At the end of the season the first place team of each half will be recognized.

As you can see here, the Bedrock Bowlers are in First Place.  Although we were happy, we are not the ‘Happy Campers’. 

This is a picture of the standings at the end of the first half.  In case there is any doubt about where our team came in the rankings… below I have given you the information.

(I have purposely blurred out the last names, to respect those that might might not want too much information plastered across the internet.)

 

 

 

Jason is a new addition to our team this year.  This is Todd’s 8th season of bowling.  My mom started bowling on Friday nights with her parents and my dad.  When my grandmother could no longer bowl on the league, I joined the team. 

My grandpa was always an inspiration to me.  His eyesight had deteriorated so badly that he couldn’t see the pins.  Every time he would come back from throwing his ball, he had my mom tell him which pins were left standing.  The amazing thing wasn’t that he was still bowling, but that without having very good eyesight, he was still able to pick up his spares. 

My dad was always a good bowler and gave me a lot of instruction.  (As you can see from my average, I really didn’t learn much.)  After he suffered his stroke, he was no longer able to use the right side of his body well.  But that didn’t stop him from bowling and being with the family.  If his right hand wasn’t able to throw that ball, then he would learn how to bowl left-handed.  He was never the bowler he was before, but he enjoyed it more.

Now Todd is my inspiration.  I am inspired every week to beat him. 

Last night was the first week of the 2nd half.  Just to let you know, we did good enough to take all 4 games!  For those of you who might not know how this works on our league, we actually bowl 3 full games, then the team with the most pin count wins the ‘4th game.’ 

My own personal highlights for the night is that I did get 1-2-10, and later in the night actually made the 3-7-10!  It took about the next 3 hours for my heart rate to return to normal.

I am really looking forward to seeing the stats for next week.  But most of all, I am looking forward to Todd being well enough to bowl with us!

To Make a Resolution… or not to Make a Resolution…

I was thinking about writing an article of the “Year in Review.”  But when I started going backwards through my blogs, I realized that I really didn’t get much of a chance to enjoy 2009.  I really see no reason to relive most of last year.

There are quite a few great things that have happened this year that I would have missed had it not been for my accident, and many things I wouldn’t have learned.  I know I wouldn’t be quite who I am today, and I like who I am today.  And I have a much better appreciation for everyone that is in our lives, and even an appreciation for those that should be in our lives.

I don’t believe the negative things happened to me last year because I failed to make a New Year’s Resolution.  I haven’t done that for several years, and not every year was like the last.  But because of what I have learned and been shown this year, I thought I should make a conscious effort to continue what I have started this year.

This year when I knew it would be easier to withdraw from the world around me and dwell on the negative things that had happened, I reached out and forced myself to think about the good things I saw.  And because the vantage point came from Todd’s La-Z-Boy chair, the good things I saw was my family that surrounded me.

Fantastic vantage point.

So this year I am going to continue along with this.  Not only will I continue to write about my wonderful family, share pictures of my wonderful children, I will also be sure that my family will realize that we are exactly that.  We are family.  That doesn’t make us perfect.  It makes us part of a bigger picture, and I will be sharing our portion of it.

It wouldn’t be like me to write a blog entry and not include a picture, so I have selected a picture that makes me smile for several reasons.  I hope it makes you smile for your own reasons.  For those of you that are new to getting this blog delivered to your mailbox, please be sure to check out the entire blog on the web. 

www.our-gossett-flock.blogspot.com

 

Looking forward to an eventful and exciting 2010!